


I'll be there for you

by Sweetcheeksandbabycakes



Series: friends au [2]
Category: Friends (TV), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friends AU, Just making that clear, M/M, No Smut, Wedding, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Planning, based off season 10 ep 12 if you were wondering, can i write a fic without including disaster, gemma as rachel, harry as phoebe, liam as chandler, louis as mike, niall as joey, nick as ross, sophia as monica, street wedding, the one with phoebe's wedding, theyre not dating!!!!, um
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 08:25:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9226610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetcheeksandbabycakes/pseuds/Sweetcheeksandbabycakes
Summary: "Harry? Why is there a six foot ice sculpture melting on our porch?"--Or, the friends au with Harry as Phoebe and Louis as Mike, in which their wedding doesn't exactly go to plan. Featuring paternal Niall as Joey Tribbiani, Nick and Liam fighting to the death for their role as groomsman, and Sophia the crazed wedding planner.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hello im back writing another fic about disastrous events who'd have thought. um i hope you enjoy this, it's been in the works for approximately twelve thousand years because i forgot about it, but its here now thats all that matters (even though it was supposed to be up before christmas whoops). its based off of the friends episode with phoebe's wedding (season 10 ep 12) which you can probably tell as i took a lot of lines directly from it because its so funny and i will never be that good.  
> anyway, enjoy!

Harry was frazzled. He'd drank approximately seven cups of coffee, walked (and ran, in some cases) about seven miles, and lost his favourite scarf on the tube. And it was only eleven in the morning. 

He bustled through the doors of the tea shop, cheeks red and hair running wild, knotted up and tangled around the old grey beanie on top of his head. Niall was exactly where he said he would be, sat on the worn out orange sofa sipping on a cup of tea out of a semi-chipped mug. The health and safety of this place was quite ridiculous, but they'd been frequenting the place for near enough a decade, they couldn't be put off by the odd cracked mug now.

"Hey mate!" Niall waved, beckoning Harry over with a bright grin on his face. He waved over the waitress and and asked for another cup of tea, which he gave over to Harry when it came.

Harry took the mug gratefully, wrapping his fingers around the mug to try and absorb some of the warmth radiating from the hot tea.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Niall asked, taking a long gulp of tea.

"Mum and Robin can't make the wedding." Harry said bluntly.   
Niall's eyebrows raised over the rim of his mug, taking another sip before replying. "Shit mate that sucks. Why not?"  
"There was a snow storm down where Robin's on this business trip, so they're stuck there until it clears, and it doesn't look like it'll be clearing for the next week or so, so they definitely won't make it for tomorrow," Harry explained, frowning slightly. He'd been so upset when his mum had called him to tell him, he was really looking forward to having Robin there, he knew it would make his mum so happy.

"Not to be funny though mate, but what's that got to do with me?"

Harry set his cup down on the table, and wrung his hands together nervously. "Well, me and you have been friends for a long time, and you're like family to me Ni, you know that. So i was wondering if you'd walk me down the aisle? I'd really like for you to do it."

Of all the ways it could've gone, Harry was beyond relieved when Niall flung his arms around his neck and hugged him until his eyes almost popped out of his head. 

"Are you serious? I'd love to be your temporary-dad!" Niall yelled, smille taking over his whole face. 

Harry laughed, which quickly turned into a frown when his phone started ringing obnoxiously. Looking at the caller ID, he rolled his eyes.

"Who is it?" Niall asked.

"My fucking wedding planner. She's been driving me mental." Harry picked up the phone and said his greetings, quickly moving the phone away from his ears at the shouting he was welcomed to. Charming. 

"Alright, alright, calm down. Just go for the beef no one will mind." He paused, listening intently to the other person. "Fine if you think that then go for the chicken." Another pause. "Well for Gods sake Soph you're gonna have to pick one, the caterer will be getting impatient!" Harry ended the call with a flourish, frown still embedded into his forehead.

Sophia then came bursting through the wooden doors, looking equally as frazzled as Harry felt earlier. She had a headset nestled into her loose brown curls - God knows why, it was connected to her bloody phone, always one for dramatics was Sophia - and a clipboard clutched tightly in her left hand. Harry groaned.

Niall cackled. "Soph's your wedding planner? Mate I wondered why you were getting all those weird calls about pissing ice sculptures, now it all makes perfect sense." Niall laughed again, and Harry scowled. He was already regretting asking him to walk down the isle.

"Shut up, she's been driving me up the bloody hatrack," Harry hissed, pinching Niall's side to cease his giggling. It didn't work.

"Harry!" Sophia yelled, trotting over to where they were sat with determination in her eyes. Harry breathed harshly through his nose and swallowed, closing his eyes. He'd lasted six weeks of her crazy wedding planning, he could do one more day. He could easily do one more day.

He opened his eyes and forced a smile, greeting Sophia with a hug and a kiss.

-*-

He could not do one more day. 

After trying to soothe a shrieking Soph (who knew main courses were so stressful), and Niall paying for his tea, saying _"It's on me son."_ before laughing hysterically, Harry was about three seconds from pulling his hair out. And to top it off, tonight was the rehearsal dinner, something Sophia insisted on having, and Harry really can't be bothered.

He looked in the mirror with a scrutinizing eye, tiliting his head to the side in thought before undoing another button. He was now on three buttoned up with about twelve unbuttoned, perhaps a new record. 

"You know, it'd be easier for you to just go shirtless rather than undoing anymore buttons." Louis stepped into the room rolling his eyes, hair half quiffed and only one sock on.

Harry grinned, undoing another one just to spite him.

"You look ridiculous."

The shirt itself was lovely, a silky off-white colour with bright flowers splattered on it, short sleeved and showing off all of Harry's tattoos. It would've been nicer if you could see the bloody thing though, gaping wide open with more of the focus on Harry's nipples than the shirt itself. 

Harry laughed, doing up the button again smoothing the shirt down, not-so-subtly admiring himself in the mirror.

Louis came up behind him, both socks on now but hair still half-done and wrapped his arms around his waist, dropping a kiss on his clothed shoulder. Harry turned around, Louis' arms still firmly around his waist and looked down at him, wearing a matching pair of dazzling smiles each. _They were getting married tomorrow._ Harry pulled Louis closer, emitting a small oof from the man, until their noses were touching and Louis was slightly cross eyed.

"Love you," Harry murmered, pressing a soft kiss on Louis' lips. It was fleeting, barely there, just a light brush of lips, but Louis sighed in contentment anyway, resting his head on Harry's chest and relaxing in his embrace, the familiarity of this after two years of being together was a welcome comfort after the hectic past few weeks.

"We're gonna be late," Louis finally whispered, making to pull away, but Harry grabbed him back and dragged them back together, Louis' head now squashed in Harry's shoulder quite uncomfortably.

"So? It's our rehearsal dinner, we can't be late everyone else is just early."

Louis rolled his eyes and Harry's incessant squeezing, and wiggled out of his arms. "You say that now, but when Sophia removes your head with her clipboard it'll be no one's fault but your own. Now let me go and finish my hair you big oaf."

Harry pouted, but turned back to the mirror and began doing his own hair nonetheless, movements slightly faster after the threat of Sophia's wrath. She had three copies of the wedding schedule, and Harry and Louis had an additional two (plus minis for their wallet). She really had an issue with over-organising, she'd allocated them bathroom breaks for crying out loud.

Speaking of, "Remember to pee now Lou, you know we can't go again until _'twenty-thirty'_ " Harry called into the bathroom, doing a poor imitation of Sophia's voice. Honestly, Harry had spent longer trying to learn military time than focus on wedding details.

Louis laughed, emerging from the room with a messy quiff and a navy suit, forgoing a tie in favour of unbottoning the top three buttons. Harry raised his eyebrows.

"You know," he began, crossing the room to tug on Louis' shirt collar. 

"If you unbutton anymore buttons, you might as well go shirtless," Harry grinned, leaning down to kiss Louis' forhead.

Louis pushed him away with a laugh. "I've literally undone three, just because you want me to go shirtless," he teased, undoing another button with an eyebrow wiggle.

Harry snorted and pushed Louis onto the bed, Louis' indignant _Oi!_ going ignored.

If they were ten minutes late, the no one had to know why. 

-*-

They'd barely walked through the doors of the small hall they were hosting the rehearsal dinner before Sophia dived on them, berating them for being ten minutes late even though no guests had arrived yet.

"I mean guys, I've been here and hour and it isn't even my wedding!" She exclaimed, which caused Harry to roll his eyes.

"Is it not? You're sure acting like it is."

Sophia's eyebrows raised, an indignant expression forming on her face, causing Liam to snicker by her side and Louis to nudge Harry, mock-scolding. He was trying to stifle a giggle though, he was fooling no one.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that H," she said, and clapped her hands making Louis startle. "Right places guys, the guests will be arriving soon! Do you remember what to do when they arrive?"  
Harry rolled his eyes once more. This woman was going to give him eye-strain one of these days. 

"Yes Soph. Greet with hugs and kisses, thank them for coming and direct them to their seat. Twenty seconds per person," Harry droned, repeating the words Sophia had been drilling into him the past couple of days.

Sophia gave him a tight grin, clearly unknowing of what to say when she didn't have to reprimand him. Says quite a lot about her character, Harry thought.

They assumed the positions by the door, standing bold upright after Sophia told them off for leaning against the wall. Honestly, she should join the military. She'd make seven foot soldiers with muscles bigger than her head burst into tears.

It was going to be a long night.

-*-

Harry was already on his third drink of the night, and he'd been there half an hour. Sophia was driving him mental, Niall was hitting on his mum as he's 'Harry's new dad', and he'd lost Louis halfway through, so God knows where he was. 

He was leaning against the bar with his drink cradled in his hand when Gemma came sidling up to him, Nick and Liam in tow.

"Hey H. You alright?" Gemma asked, signalling the bartender over and ordering herself another drink. Harry swears she's on her fifth. She's worse than he is.

"Yeah, Sophia's driving me a bit mad but what's new. How do you deal with it Liam?"

Liam laughed. "I don't know myself some days mate. She can get very, um, what's the word? Shrill?"

Nick snickered. "That's putting it lightly mate."

"Oh yeah H before I forget! Why haven't you and Lou told Liam and Nick what they're doing in the wedding yet?" Gemma asked seemingly inconspicuous, but her eyes flickering around the room looking at everything but Harry said otherwise. Nick and Liam looked at Harry slightly guiltily, but with curiousity in their eyes nontheless.

Harry gulped. This was the conversation Harry had been dreading having, so he'd been postponing it as long as possible, thinking that if he didn't bring it up Liam and Nick wouldn't notice. He was obviously mistaken.

"Oh dear. Um, what I mean is, we haven't told you, because we don't know what you're doing?"

Liam and Nick raised their eyebrows.

"So what you mean is, we're not in the wedding?"

"Well, I've already got my bridesmaids, and Louis couldn't decide between you two for his best man, so he just went with Ernie, he thought it would stop you two arguing and being hurt that one was chosen and not the other," Harry trailed off, feeling more and more awful with every word that left his mouth. "But!" He added suddenly, "one of the groomsmen dropped out last week because of family issues, so I suppose one of you could do that? But then the other," Harry trailed off again, looking guilty.

"I'll do it!" The two men yelled simultaneously, causing Gemma to startle and her drink to slosh precariously over the rim of her glass.

"Oh God I can't choose! You're both like two of my best friends!"

Nick stepped closer to Harry. "Pick me! I'm used to it by now," he said, referencing his previous marriages and doing a very wobbly walk whilst humming the bridal march. They all seemed to have had too much to drink.

"No no! Pick me!" Liam said, nudging Harry's hip. Then leaned in closer and whispered, "if you don't pick me I'll make Sophia be ten times bossier than she is being now. This is her scaling it back you know."

Harry paled. The two looked at him with hopeful expressions painted across their faces, eyes slightly cloudy from the alcohol, but hopefulness and a small hint of desperation shining through. Oh God, he couldn't choose.

"Gemma!" Harry suddenly yelled. "I have your first bridesmaid duty!"

"Ooh goody, what is it what is it?" Gemma asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet, very reminiscent of her childhood days. Her drink was still sloshing around, more on the floor than in the glass at this point.

"I need you to pick between Nick and Liam to be a groomsman. Okay good thank you!" Harry rushed out, patting Gemma on the shoulder and dashing away before she could protest.

He left her with a gaping mouth and Liam and Nick pouncing on her. 

-*-

About half an hour later, they were all varying levels of tipsy, but Sophia still insisted that they did their speeches, they must stick to the schedule after all.

"Do I have time just to go for a quick wee break?" Louis asked, shifting from one leg to the other with a hand over his crotch. There was something about beer that made his bladder strangely weak.

"Louis!" Sophia sounded outraged. "You had a bathroom break at twenty thirty! Train your bladder Tomlinson! Now go, you each get a five minute speech which will soon turn to four if we keep chatting."

She grabbed her almost empty champagne flute and tapped on it a few times, gaining the attention of the surrounding guests.

"Everybody!" She called. "The happy couple would like to say a few words." She stepped aside for Harry and Louis to be the center of attention, standing in with the rest of the crowd scrutinizing the pair carefully.

"You go first love," Louis whispered to Harry, tapping him lightly on the hip and the squeezing, a reassuring comfort.

"Right, I just wanted to start with thanking you all for coming, well not all, being as some people couldn't make it. I'm sorry we couldn't all be here tonight, but when has a Styles-Tomlinson event even ran smoothly?" Harry asked, causing a few titters to break through the crowd. Sophia just rolled her eyes and signaled with her hand for Harry to get going.

"Right, yes sorry. Um, so-" he stuttered, becoming increasingly more flustered with Sophia's incessant hand signals. She was tapping her watch now. Louis noticed Harry's discomfort and squeezed his hip again, leaving his hand there this time, an attempt to console Harry. It wasn't working.

"Um, it's a funny story how we met actually. I was going out on a double date with my friend Niall, but it turns out he hadn't arranged to bring anyone at all, he was just there for my friend. She's not here today because-" he was cut off by Sophia making slashing motions at her neck, a signal for him to wrap it up and move on. "Well, that doesn't matter. She's in prison." He said bluntly, making Louis and Liam snort, the latter receiving a swift elbow to the stomach from Sophia. 

"Anyway ignore all that, all I really wanted to say is I love this man next to me very much and-" Sophia was now tapping her foot, looking at her watch and rolling her eyes simultaneously, and Harry just snapped.

"Sophia!" He yelled, startling all of them around him. "I can't do it anymore! I can't handle _this_ -" he hissed, tapping his watch. "Or _this_ -" he continued, this time making slashing motions at his neck. "Or _this_ -" he finished, tapping his foot. "All I wanted was a nice simple wedding! One where my fiance _can go to the bathroom anytime he wants!_ " He screamed, Sophia visibly recoiling. 

"You know what, I'm done with you," he finished, looking Sophia directly in the eye.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You're fired!" He yelled again, making the guests jump as they thought the yelling segment of the argument was over. Obviously not.

"Cheers," Harry finished sweetly, smiling at all of the guests and downing his full champagne flute in one, slamming it down on a nearby table. Harry spun on his heel and fled the venue, his shirt billowing behind him like a cape. It was a pretty badass exit if he does say so himself.

"I'm sorry everyone," Louis nodded at the shocked guests, many of whom had began to whisper, leaving him to rush around and say goodbyes for them both.

-*-

Harry was in bed when Louis finally came in from the party. He trudged in, blazer slung over his left shoulder and shoes held in his other hand, placing them at the bottom of their shared wardrobe and hanging up his blazer. He changed into a pair of soft pyjama bottoms, forgoing a shirt despite it being the middle of winter. 

Harry wordlessly scooched over to his own side of the bed, lifting the covers so Louis could slide in and get comfortable.

"Sophia's pissed." Louis said simply, and rolled over onto his side so Harry could assume his role of little spoon.

And for the first time in the five months Sophia had been planning his wedding, he didn't care.

-*-

The pair woke up to the sound of someone pottering around their kitchen, mugs and plates clanking noisily. They looked at each other with a bewildered look, eyes still half closed from sleep and hair mussed and ruffled. 

Harry was the first to go down and investigate, leaving Louis rolling around in bed groaning about his hangover. Serves him right.

He padded down the stairs quietly, seeing Niall and Gemma crowded in Harry and Louis' tiny kitchen, mugs of steaming tea clutched tightly in their hands and two more on the table. Harry grabbed one of them gratefully and blew on it, taking a sip and wincing when it scalded his tongue.

"Happy wedding day!" Gemma declared, raising her mug in the air victoriously making Harry laugh.

"Happy my wedding day to you," he replied, bowing slightly which caused Niall to snort and Gemma to roll her eyes at his ridiculousness.  
"So Gem," Harry started, sipping his tea again. "Decided who the groomsman is yet? You know you can't keep them waiting or Nick will talk your ears off for you to pick him."

Gemma sighed. "No, not yet. I'm hoping they'll pitch their final cases later and it'll be an easy choice, or I'm very tempted to just pick a name out of a hat."

That was when Louis came plodding down the stairs, looking especially worse for wear even though Harry swore Gemma had had more drinks than him. Must be the Styles immune system, Harry mused, sliding Louis his mug over which he accepted with a thankful kiss pressed to Harry's cheek. Niall cooed and tried to ruffle Louis' hair, which Louis retaliated with batting his hand away and laughing.  
The four of them continued talking about the days events, Louis and Gemma making more jokes at Harry's expense than actually talking about the stressful day ahead, and Niall focusing more on eating his way through a whole loaf of bread. As Sophia hadn't got around to transferring Harry's details to all of the companies involved in the wedding after her sudden firing, Harry experienced a calm morning free of wedding-related stress, quite content to just sip his tea surrounded by some of his favourite people.

That was until Sophia waltzed in clutching a bag full of paperwork and a tight smile on her face.

"Good morning everyone," she greeted seemingly cheerful, but the vice-like grip she had on her bag said otherwise.

Gemma snickered and quickly left the room, not wanting to be caught up in Harry vs. Sophia again, Louis and Niall hot on her heels. That left 

Harry and Sophia stood around awkwardly in the kitchen, neither willing to meet the other's eye.

"So," Sophia began, putting her bag down on the table and taking the seat opposite Harry. "I've been thinking about last night, and what you said did hurt me, but I am willing to take my job back." She finished the sentence with a smile, and Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Well Soph, I've also been thinking about last night, and no offence to you, I just think it would be better if you stayed a bridesmaid. Avoid arguments and all that." 

Sophia looked stunned, and Harry walked over to the sink to wash his mug with a poorly disguised grin. He couldn't wait to regain control over his _own bloody wedding_. 

He sat back down in front of Sophia and waited for her to say something, half expecting her to start yelling again.

She didn't, she just took a deep breath and reached inside her bag, pulling out that godforsaken headset and offering it out to Harry with a tight-lipped smile.

"Well in that case, I give you the headset."

Harry reached to grab the headset tentatively, but Sophia snatched it away before he could take it. He rolled his eyes.

"Well maybe I don't want to give you the headset." She put it back in her bag with a frown, pulling out a huge wad of papers instead. She had an unhealthy issue with that bloody headset.

She slid the papers over to Harry's side of the table with a malicious smile. "Well, if you're taking over, you should probably return these messages."

Harry let out a low whistle, flicking through the stack with wide eyes. 

"There's a lot." He said stupidly. 

Sophia laughed. "I know. But you'll be fine right?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harry nodded. He'll be fine.

-*-

He will not be fine. His bun was falling out with every pace he took, he'd been wandering around the kitchen with his phone clutched to his ear for the past thirty minutes; with Gemma in her room doing her nails or something, Niall watching shitty Christmas movies on the TV, and Louis showering, the only person there to help him was Sophia, and she was just sat smugly in the chair listening to Harry's troubled voice. Harry was too proud to ask her for help anyway, he said he could do this and goddammit he will.

"Sven I can't tell what you are saying!" 

Don't get him wrong, Sven the florist was an absolute doll, but his very, very thick Swedish accent was hard enough to understand in person, never mind over the phone. The signal was terrible, it had been snowing progressively harder over the course of the day, so the phone companies were experiencing many difficulties.

"Lorcins?" He asked in disbelief. "What the hell are lorcins?"

"I know!" Sophia chimed unhelpfully from her seat at the table. Harry rolled his eyes.  
It was at that point Louis walked through the door of the kitchen, an amused smile on his face at Harry's disheveled appearance. 

"Louis! If you were a Swedish florist and you were saying Lorcins, what flower would you be on about?" Harry asked, staring at Louis desperately with wild eyes.

"Uh, Orchids?" Louis guessed.

"Yes! See, this, this is why I'm marrying you!" Harry declared, making Louis laugh.

Harry turned his back to Louis to look at his papers, muttering illegibly into the phone. Louis rolled his eyes fondly, turning around only to jump backwards when he saw Niall was directly behind him. 

"Jesus Niall you scared me," Louis breathed, clutching his heart.

Niall's expression remained indifferent. "Lewis, I'd like a word with you if you please."

Louis griped at the annoying nickname, but followed Niall into the living room nonetheless.

"Lewis," Niall began.

"Neil," Louis retaliated, grinning.

"So, Lewis. What are your intentions with my Harry?" Niall asked.  
Louis spluttered. "What?"

"You heard me. I am his honorary father, so do not disrespect me Lewis. Now, what are your intentions?"

He was mad. He was actually mad.

"Uh," Louis said foolishly.

"Strike one!" Niall declared, making Louis jump again. "Don't try and stall, Lewis."

"Do I have time to think this one over?" Louis tried.

"Nope. Harry is very important to me, and I want to make sure that you're going to take care of him."

"Niall, bro, you know me! You've literally been my friend for three years!" Louis said, finally letting out the laugh he had been holding in.

"Strike two! I know we know each other, but I have to be sure. _I'm his father Lewis_."

Louis swallowed down another giggle, but quickly regained his composure. "Well, Harry is the most important person in my life, and I love him more than anyone. I'd rather die than see anything happen to him. There, happy now?"

Niall smiled wetly, eyes brimming with tears. He was so _weird_.

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Niall jumped up and hugged Louis, taking Louis off guard, but he returned the hug nonetheless.

"Now my soon-to-be father in-law, do I have permission to go now? I have a lot of things I need to do today."

Niall nodded and patted Louis ( _harshly_ , Louis might add) on the back, and left the room in search of Harry. 

He ran into Nick on his way out of the living room, who seemed to be making a beeline for the guest room, no doubt on a mission to become groomsman.

Louis shot him a sheepish smile, to which Nick ignored, in favour of nudging him with his hip and grinning.

"Wait til you see me next, I'll be walking down the aisle!" Nick said, making Louis laugh.

-*-

Nick strolled into Gemma's temporary room with a sure smile on his face, stopping in his tracks when Gemma looked up at him from her position on the bed.

"My God, you look breathtaking," Nick breathed with a fake gasp, clutching his heart. 

Gemma rolled her eyes and went back to filing her nails. "What do you want?"

Nick perched next to Gemma on the bed and clasped his hands together.

"I'm taking you haven't picked a groomsman yet?" Nick asked seemingly inconspicuously, but the scheming arch of his brow showed he was fishing for information.

Gemma sighed and put down her nail file, turning toward Nick. "No I haven't. I might just put a name in a hat at this point."

"No! Look, I'll tell you why you should pick me. You know I love Liam, cracking lad, truly; but he's just _so_ serious. I'd provide a bit of comedy, be a fun partner to walk down with, we'd be great! Plus, Liam's married to Soph. If you pick Liam you get the wrath of Sophia inflicted onto you by default." Nick grinned, he was really pulling out the big guns.

Gemma let out a defeated exhale. "Fine. I pick you."

"Yes!" Nick yelled, jumping up and hissing illegibly. Gemma raised her eyebrows. "Thank you Miss Styles. I'll be looking forward to walking you down the aisle later." Nick tipped his imaginary hat, turned on his heel and left, leaving Gemma lying on the bed groaning.

Nick passed Liam on his way out, concealing a triumphant snicker aimed at Liam and just gave him a smile, nudging him on his way past.

"Hey Gems!" He heard Liam say before the door closed.

Nick skipped down to the kitchen to let Harry and Louis know of their new groomsman.

-*-

Liam walked into Gemma's room confidently, a sure smile plastered on his face. He had this one in the bag. Nick never took anything seriously, the importance of being a groomsman wouldn't faze him, he'd still be cracking ridiculous jokes standing by the alter. Liam would treat everything with the utmost importance, not taking a step out of line or tripping just for comedic value. (Nick did it at his own wedding. Let's just say that marriage didn't last very long.)

"Hey Gems!" Liam greeted, sitting down beside a sighing Gemma.

"Hey Li, I'm guessing you're here about the groomsman situation?" Gemma asked, turning to face Liam.

"Yep. Now let me tell you why I'd be great-"

He was cut off by Gemma's hand on his knee. "Look Li, I know you'd be great, but I just think I'm gonna pick Nick. I've known him for longer and he's one of my closest friends - not that you aren't!" She quickly added. "And I know he's really looking forward to it. Sorry Liam, honestly. I wish I could pick you both!"

Liam sighed and nodded understandingly. "Okay, thanks anyway. I wasn't really expecting for you to pick me, I know you and Nick are closer and stuff, it's very understandable. Plus I never get picker for anything, so..." he trailed off. He gave Gemma a sad smile and hung his head, getting up to leave the room.

Gemma groaned. "Fine! I pick you!"

Liam grinned. He knew he had this one in the bag.

-*-

Niall patted Louis on the back as the pair headed out of the living room.

"I'm glad we had this talk," Niall said grinning at Louis. 

Harry turned to the pair curiously. "What talk?"

"You don't want to know," Louis laughed, turning to Niall. "And thanks for the advice on wedding nights. That didn't make me uncomfortable at all." He shuddered. Niall just laughed. "I need to just pop down to the car, I left my tie in there from the other day," he told Harry sheepishly, resulting in a swat to the side with a tea towel.

"I told you to look after that tie, it was expensive!"

Louis just rolled his eyes, and opened the front door, only to be greeted by a six foot tall ice sculpture slowly melting on their front porch, despite the heavy snow outside. 

"Harry? Why is there a six foot ice sculpture melting on our porch?" Louis asked, turning to Harry with confusion.

"Oh my God!" 

Harry went from relatively calm to panicked hyperventilation in about point two seconds.

"Why is it here?" He cried, frantically looking through his notes and his phone to find some sort of explanation.

"Well love if I knew I probably wouldn't be asking would I?" Louis tried gently, but the harsh look Harry gave him quickly shut him up.

"Oh dear!" Sophia cried gleefully. "It looks like it's been sent to the billing address, not the shipping address! Oh, what a pickle!"  
She was enjoying this way too much. Harry scowled.

"Don't you just want to just stick your tongue on that?" Niall asked unhelpfully. Harry threw his tea towel at him.

-*-

Nick strolled into the kitchen after the ice sculpture fiasco with a smug grin on his face, nodding to Liam who was sat at the table cockily.  
Liam smirked right back at him. "Nick."

"Liam. Thought I'd get some coffee, you know, get myself fueled for the wedding," he told Liam, sitting down opposite him with his spotty mug clutched in his hands. Very threatening.

"Me too. Though I need to get ready soon though, can't be late," Liam returned easily, grinning to Nick and taking a confident sip of coffee from his equally threatening pug mug.

Nick's arrogant smile soon faded. "Well I know why I'm being such an arsehole, so why are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"I'm not supposed to tell you." Liam's look of confidence soon turned apprehensive.

"Well I'm not supposed to tell you!" Nick cried, slamming his mug down. "Let's go find Gemma."

-*-

The pair burst into Gemma's room with angry looks on their faces.

"You told us both we could be in the wedding?" Nick asked hotly.

Gemma flinched at the sudden intrusion."Well," she began. "In my defence, you weren't supposed to tell each other!" She exclaimed.

  
Liam threw his hands up in the air in exaspiration. "You can't pick both of us! You have to chose!"

Gemma looked between the two with a troubled look on her face. "I can't do it! It's too hard, get someone else to!"

Nick let out a tiny scream. Liam stamped his foot like a petulant child. Gemma groaned.

Louis came into the room with a concerned look on his face, looking around at the trio apprehensively.

"Is everything alright in here? I heard screaming."

"It's about this bloody groomsman thing!" Gemma cried, grabbing on to Louis' arm and staring up at him with wild eyes. "I can't choose, it's driving me mad!"

Louis shook Gemma off with an awkward chuckle. "Oh, that's alright then, me and Harry and mum were talking, and we thought it would be cute if Bruce was the leftover groomsman. He's been in the family for ages and stuff, so we thought if you couldn't choose let him walk down the aisle!"

Nick stared at Louis. "A fucking dog? No way, let Gemma choose."

"Well in that case," Gemma started, smiling manically. "I think I'm gonna pick the dog."

Nick let out a tiny scream. Liam stamped his foot like a petulant child. Gemma and Louis laughed.

 

-*-

"So what you're saying," Harry began, massaging his head. "Is that the chef is at the venue but the food is not; and the drinks are at the venue but the bartender is not?" Harry repeated. He paused to listen to the panicked caterers on the other line. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He cried, hanging up the phone and chucking it on the sofa.

"How's it going?" Sophia asked from her seat on the tattered brown armchair.

"Help me." Harry whimpered. He was losing his bloody mind.

"What?" Sophia asked.

"I want you to be crazy bitch again."

Sophia placed her hand on her heart and looked at Harry in awe. 

"Really?"

"Please." Harry pleaded desperately.

"You really want me to come back?" Sophia asked, standing to join Harry.

"More than I want to get married." He said seriously.

"Alright people we are back in business!" Sophia called out happily, loud enough for the whole house to hear. She pulled on her headset and took the tattered notes from Harry's hands. "You go and get your hair done and I will sort everything out, I promise."

Harry squeezed Sophia's arm in thanks, but was stopped from leaving the room by a frowning Niall. Louis followed him in, and Harry shot him a quizzical look, to which Louis just shrugged

"But what are you guys going to do about the snow?" Niall asked.

"What?"

Niall drew back the curtains to reveal a thick, _thick_ blanket of white on the floor, snow falling heavily and rapidly, flakes the size of golf balls. Harry's jaw dropped.

"It's the worst snow storm in twenty years, it's all over the news."

"But the band and the photographer are coming in from Brighton!" Sophia moaned, flicking through her notes with such a speed Harry feared her fingers would cramp.

"I don't think they are," Niall said sadly.

"Ha," Nick snickered evilly. "It looks like you're not going to be in the wedding either." He prodded Gemma who kicked him in the shin.

Harry glared at him.

-*-

"Well," Sophia began, throwing her phone down on the sofa and sighing. "The venue's power is completely off. The snow's like froze up all the electricity or whatever."

Harry groaned, running his hands down his face in defeat. That's the photographer, the band, the bartender, the venue and about ten of the guests not showing. Great. 

He flopped back into Louis' arms, curling in as small as possible so he wouldn't do something stupid like burst into tears in front of everyone. They'd been waiting for this day for months, both of them wanting a winter wedding after Christmas so the hecticness of the holiday wouldn't interfere with their marriage plans. They obviously failed to take into account that the week after Christmas would probably be under thick snow, Harry thought bitterly. 

Louis squeezed his waist and dropped a kiss to his forehead, and Harry was getting closer and closer to crying.

Gemma was sat in the window seat, staring outside at the street wistfully. 

"It really is beautiful out there," she sighed sadly. Then her face lit up. "Hey H! You've always wanted to get married outside, why don't you?"

Harry perked up at the idea. 

"I mean, it wouldn't exactly be hard to do, would it Soph?"

Sophia pondered for a moment. "No, I don't think so. I mean we have the odd chair, we have all of our clothes, the Christmas lights in the street would be a gorgeous background. I don't see why we couldn't do it."

Louis shot up, making Harry topple over from his position under his arm. "Well what are you all waiting for? We've got a wedding to set up."

-*-

Two hours later, and they'd manage to borrow a few chairs from neighbours, the ridiculous ice sculpture was standing pride of place at their make-shift alter, and they'd managed to form some sort of wedding.

The street had been shut off from the heavy snow, but Liam, Louis and Nick soon managed to clear the thickest off the road so everyone could walk on it, and two rows of odd chairs were placed either side, leaving a decent sized gap for the 'aisle'. As it was still early January, the Christmas lights were still strung up around buildings and lampposts, and reflected off of the snow like jewels.

It was very mish-mash, very non-traditional, but it was very Harry and Louis.

Sophia had been flapping about for the rest of the day, and she'd managed to get everything organised, except a minister.

"Guys!" She yelled, causing everyone to stop their tasks and turn to her. "We can't have a bloody wedding without an ordained minister, it won't count!"

Shit. Harry looked to Louis in a panic, who looked just as taken off guard as he did. Once again it was Niall to save the day though.

"I'm still ordained from your wedding!" He hollered, pointing between Liam and Sophia excitedly. "I can do it!"

Harry still looked stricken. "Well who's going to walk me down the aisle then?" He asked.

Liam and Nick looked at each other with steely gazes. 

"I'll do it!" They yelled simultaneously, causing Gemma to throw her hands in the air in exasperation.

"I am staying firmly out of this one, you can decide between yourselves," she said, backing off.

"Well one of you need to walk Bruce down obviously, he'd veer off course and wind up God knows where if you left him to roam free," Louis chuckled.

Nick raised his hand eagerly. "I'll do it, Liam's shit scared of dogs anyway."

Liam shoved him in annoyance. "Am not. But that's cool, I'll walk Harry down the aisle then. Hello son."

Harry rolled his eyes. "There it's settled then."

"Back to business people!" Sophia called, clapping her hands.

-*-

Harry smoothed his shirt down nervously, shaking his hair out just to flick it back to where it was in the first place. He was very nervous. 

He looked fine, he thought, that wasn't what he was worried about. His white silk shirt fitted perfectly whilst still being billowy enough to rival Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, the epitome of bohemian dreamboat. His deep navy trousers were sinfully tight, but still managed to make him look formal and put-together. No, he looked fine, it was the event itself that was worrying him. Most things seemed to have gone to shit, what was stopping everything else? 

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair again, double checking his shoelaces were tied and there were no creases in sight, ringing his hands together nervously.

Liam walked into the room with a reassuring smile on his face, wearing a grey suit, a navy and deep emerald tie around his neck. His hair was styled in a quiff, looking like if you put your hand on it the hair wouldn't move, but you'd come out with a sore palm from the amount of hairspray in it. Harry grinned at his friend, tension leaking from his shoulders when he saw the familiar face.

"You look great H," Liam said softly, patting him on the back.

Harry looked down and shuffled his feet. "Thanks Li. You don't look too bad yourself."

Liam smacked his arm lightly and shoved his navy blazer in his arms. "Put this on then mate, we've got a wedding to get to."

"Liam it's literally happening outside, it's almost impossible to be late," Harry said with an eye roll, but slipped his blazer on nonetheless.

The pair walked down the stairs in comfortable silence, the house eerily silent without Niall laughing and Gemma and Nick squabbling and Bruce barking. The only thing in the usually busy kitchen was Harry's flowers laying on the table, a sweet arrangement of violets and gypsophila, very simple but very effective, the odd few fern leaves fitting in seamlessly to keep up their theme of blue and green.

Harry grabbed them shakily, taking Liam's arm in the other and squeezed it in thanks at his comforting smile. It was showtime.

-*-

Harry walked down the aisle in what seemed like a blur. He barely recognised anyone in the small crowd, he only had eyes for the man standing at the end, blue eyes shining with unshed tears (which he would later claim were from the wind blowing in his eyes) and looking positively radiant in his dark bottle green suit, a unique wool material as opposed to Harry's silky ensemble. 

When he reached Louis, barely remembering to thank Liam and give him a hug, Niall was practically bouncing in excitement. His newly-brunette quiff was flopping with all of his little jiggles, whether it was from the cold or just plain excitement nobody knew. (It was probably the latter.)

Louis smiled at Harry and squeezed his hand, keeping it clasped between his tightly, the slight painful edge of his hold showed his evident nerves. Harry squeezed right back.

"Dearly beloved," Niall began, his voice booming over the empty street. "Friends, family, dog," he added, looking at Bruce. Louis snorted.

"We are gathered here today to witness this special event. The cold has now spread to my special place, so we're going to do this quickly."

Louis cackled, Harry groaned, and Sophia shot daggers, but her amused smile gave away her lack of annoyance.

"Louis and Harry are perfect for each other, and I know I speak on behalf of all present when I say I wish them a lifetime of happiness. Now, who has the rings?"

Nick wiggled the rings out of his pocket with his left hand, still clutching onto a squirming Bruce with his right, and dropped them in Niall's gloved hand.

Harry's vows passed in a flurry of tears and too many thank you's aimed at Louis, and ended with him slipping the thick silver band onto his ring finger with ease. Louis looked up at Harry with bright eyes, the icy cold making his eyes appear sharper and a more vibrant blue. Louis' eyes were the kind of blue that you could stare at forever and ever and still never be able to recreate that colour with paints, never being bright enough or never getting the right flecks of green. Louis' eyes were an idiosyncrasy, something that Harry was willing to stare at for the rest of eternity to try and get that colour _just right_. They were something he was willing to get lost in, because nothing could ever have more importance to him in his life than Louis.

"Harry, you are so beautiful. You are so kind, so compassionate, so weirdly quirky," Louis smiled, and a few guests chuckled. "You are the best person in my life, I really don't know what I'd do without you. You are my home, I feel so lucky to be marrying you today - especially after the events of the past few days -" Niall snorted. "- I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you, because I know you'll make each day an adventure. So thank you Harry, you truly are the most wonderful person I've ever met."

Harry sniffed. Louis always managed to out-do him when it came to words, had a way of spinning them in order to formulate an emotional response. The emotional response mainly being Harry crying.

He slipped the ring on Harry's finger, squinting at it to check the fit was perfect. It was, Sophia had measured their fingers once a week for the previous six weeks.

"Oh, wait I forgot!" Harry exclaimed. "I love you! I forgot to say that."

Louis grinned. "I love you too."

"Oh, and you have nice eyes," Harry added on as an afterthought, and nodded when he realised he'd said everything he'd wanted to.

"Finished?" Niall teased. Harry nodded with a beaming smile.

"Harry, do you take this man to be your husband?" Niall asked.

Harry nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I do."

Niall cooed. "Louis, do _you_ take _this_ man to be your husband?"

"I do," Louis said confidently.

"Well, I now pronounce you husbands. You may now kiss the groom."

Niall stepped back to allow Harry and Louis to have their big moment, lips sliding together in a sweet kiss, keeping it short and sweet due to the children present and the chilling cold seeping into everyone's bones.

"Wanna go and get warm?" Louis asked against Harry's lips, his arms wrapped securely around Harry's waist and feeling the goosebumps along his body.

"Are you propositioning me Mr Tomlinson?" Harry teased.

"Hm, maybe later Mr Tomlinson." Harry lit up at the name. "Come on love, let's get inside."

The pair seperated, keeping their hands clasped tightly between them and turned to the small crowd who were applauding and crying and (in Nick and Gemma's case) cheering. They strolled down the aisle in their blue and green suits, matching smiles spread across their faces and left hands heavier with the addition of a new ring. 

They were both dithering and Louis' lips were turning slightly blue, but they were walking to their house married and stomach's turning with joy; and despite the half-melted ice sculpture still standing on their porch and the lack of catering meaning the guests would be feasting on crisp sandwiches and wedding cake, they couldn't be more content.

 

**Author's Note:**

> hello again sorry it was shit leave all your abuse in the comments but don't forget to leave me kudos because it makes my day. was thinking next installment could be monica/chandler adopting episode(s) maybe?? comment and let me know if you have any other ideas if you want im not forcing you or anything (but do it)  
> feel free to point out any mistakes/missing tags etc etc  
> thanks!  
> twitter: @holdtounight  
> tumblr: @thunderfouck


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